Friday 7th February 2025

 Dear Parents and Caregivers.

It's been a busy week and we are all looking forward to some relaxation at the weekend. The children have represented the school fantastically this week and we are very proud of them.

Well done to all the children who took part in the Sumdog competition but special congratulations go to Sunflower Class who came 10th overall: they enjoyed extra playtime as their reward today.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Friday 14th February - PTA Wear Red for Valentine’s Day

Friday 14th February - Last Day of Term

Monday 17th February - Friday 21st February - Half Term Holiday

Monday 24th February - INSET Day (school closed)

Tuesday 25th February - Return to School

Monday 3rd March - Year 3/4 visit to Harry Potter Warner Brother Studios

Thursday 6th March - World Book Day

Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check

This year the children in Year 4 will be participating in the multiplication tables check (MTC) in June. The purpose of the check is to determine whether the children can fluently recall their times tables up to 12, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will also help your child’s school to identify if your child may need additional support. The Times Table Club is taking place on a Thursday after school (3:15 to 4:15), to help them prepare for this.

Spelling Frame Rule 17 - https://spellingframe.co.uk/

This week we would like the children to focus on: Spelling Rule 17
Your child has their login details glued into their reading diaries. They will be tested at the end of every week on these spellings so PLEASE practise at home. These have been stuck in your child's little blue book. If your child did not have theirs in school, they were given the spelling list.

Times Tables

The children have these stuck in their little blue books already and we are now revisiting the 4x & 8x tables (Y3) and 9x (Y4) The children will be tested and taking part in times table activities throughout the week. Using TTRS is an excellent way to practise these.

Year 3/4  Homework Tasks

Year 3

English - Page 4 - Nouns

Maths - 3x and 8x tables activity sheet

Year 4

English - Page 4 - Nouns Maths - Short Division - 2-digit and 3-digit numbers divided by 1 digit.

The children have been given a sheet to complete. They decide which page they complete (either 2 or 3-digit numbers) as they feel confident.

Must Do

Reading: 

Remember 15-20 minutes everyday is super important but we understand this is not always manageable. Make sure you are reading as much as you can - at least 3x a week and recording what you read in your child's reading record. These will be collected by teachers and checked regularly.  When you have finished your Accelerated Reader book, you can take a quiz at school. Remember that you need 3 100% scores to move up a level.

Times table practice - Please log on to TTRS and complete your challenges.

Can Do
Continue logging on to TTRS and Sumdog -  your logins are stuck in the front cover of your reading records. 

Reading Skills

Every week we encourage you to keep up all your reading at home as this makes such a huge difference. We wanted to spend a little time this week speaking more about reading skills.

Understanding what they have read (or comprehension) is vital for the children  and we support this through our VIPERS reading skills. This stands for:

Vocabulary    Infer    Predict    Explain    Retrieve    Summarise

You can explore these ideas with your child after reading using some of the following question prompts:

Vocabulary - have a good range of vocabulary in order to understand the text

• What does the word _____ mean in this sentence?
• Find a word that means _____ on this page.

Infer - understanding reached through reasoning about what you have read

• Why was _____ feeling _____?
• Why did _____ happen?
• How do you know?

Predict - what you think will happen based on what you have read

• What do you think will happen next?
• How will this character's action affect what will happen next?

Explain - what your thoughts and opinions are about the book

• Who is your favourite character? Why?
• Would you like to live in this setting? Why?

Retrieve - discuss the characters, events and setting of the story

• Who did _____?
• Where did _____?

Summarise - pick out the key events

• Retell the story in your own words.
• Pick out the important parts.

We hope this helps you discuss the books your child reads at home as the more they practice these skills the more fluent in comprehension they will become.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Harvey and Mrs Devlin